Lee Keegan gradually adjusting to the switch from active service to punditry

In a quiet room off RTÉ’s main Sunday Game TV studio, Lee Keegan sits down for a pre-championship chat. On his right wrist is a high-end Whoop fitness tracker, on the other a regular Garmin type watch for clocking any other daily activity the Whoop might somehow have missed.

Bright-eyed and lean, he looks like a man still very much in the business of high performance and of chasing those marginal gains.

Truth be told, if he did a Cluxton on it and asked to clock in again for duty this weekend as Mayo prepare to face Roscommon in the Connacht championship, they’d be happy to have him.

The freshly retired five-time All Star is content with his decision though and, while he admits it’ll be a wrench watching his former colleagues run out in Castlebar, he’s also looking forward to what he can bring to the punditry table.

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Fellow analyst David Tubridy suggested during yesterday’s main launch of RTÉ’s coverage of the championships that it could very well be Mayo’s year.

“Typical, as soon as I’m gone,” shot back Keegan with a grin.

Tubridy could be right though and that’s a cross Keegan may yet have to bear.

“I’ll obviously have to be as objective as I possibly can on Sunday but I do want to see them do well, I want to see that group do well,” acknowledged Keegan.

“What pleased me most about last Sunday and winning the league was that the older cohort got another medal, the likes of Aidan O’Shea, Jason Doherty, Kevin McLoughlin, Cillian O’Connor, those guys that I probably trooped with for 10, 12 years.

“Yeah, it’ll be bittersweet but I’ll actually enjoy the game from a supporter’s view, and also a punditry perspective, to see how the game is evolving and seeing if Kevin McStay changes anything from the league to the championship, and seeing if the guys can adjust according to what the game plan is.”

Keegan is particularly excited about O’Shea’s role in the full-forward line for Mayo this term. In the space of just eight league games – six starts and two substitute appearances – the veteran Breaffy man appears to have redefined what he’s all about.

Sure, placing a big man on the edge of the square isn’t particularly groundbreaking. It’s a role even O’Shea himself played at times but the way he is being used is different and progressive, and mightily effective.

That pleases Keegan because he feels O’Shea took much more than his fair share of personal criticism for past All-Ireland failures.

“He did, because his personality is so big,” claimed Keegan. “And you know what, Aidan also takes a lot of the brunt on himself regardless because he’s that kind of personality within the group, he doesn’t want other guys being impacted or taking on flak that shouldn’t be coming their way.

“The thing is, we tried Aidan O’Shea at full forward for many years but the problem was our game plan was around running it. So if you’re a full forward like Aidan, why would you want to move for it when you have strike runners like Oisín Mullin or Paddy Durcan or whoever coming on at the end of moves?

“Now, all of a sudden, it’s given Aidan that confidence that, ‘You know what, if I make a run, more than likely I’m going to get the ball’. So that gives confidence to Aidan that the guys back on the 45 are looking at him and it also gives confidence that we’re not just going to continuously run it and run it and run it.

“That’s why we’re getting the best out of Aidan O’Shea, because we’re kicking in the ball. It was the same with Con O’Callaghan in the second half last weekend – Dublin finally kicked the ball in directly to him. You can see the damage it does when you have a big target man on the edge of the square. It can really hurt teams.”

Keegan reckons it’s inevitable that some of the flak which came O’Shea’s way hurt him, even if he didn’t necessarily show it.

“I think he’s emphatically answered the questions this year of where he’s at in his career, with how he’s playing,” said Keegan. “And we’re getting the very best out of Aidan as a result of the game plan that Mayo are playing, but also the freedom he obviously feels.

“I think it’s the first time in a while that we see Aidan playing with a big smile on his face because he’s getting the type of ball that he wants, that he can do damage with.”

If Keegan has one worry for Mayo, it’s that they won’t be able to sustain their strong form indefinitely.

“I think it’s all well and good going really hard now but there has to be a bigger picture for Mayo and where they are at,” he said.

In the short-term, however, he is optimistic.

“I think Kevin knows what to expect this Sunday; he has a lot of close ties with Roscommon obviously so he’ll be well up for that game and for laying down a marker for the next game against Galway in two weeks, all going to plan,” said Keegan.